IE Platform Architect defects to Google

Here's a bit of browser war gossip for you. Right after Microsoft gloated about seeing two million people download the Internet Explorer 9 beta in just two days, the company's IE Platform Architect announced that he was departing Microsoft to take on a fancy new position... at Google.

Chris Wilson says he was part of the Internet Explorer team for a whopping 15 years, but he explains, "As I reached the conclusion that I'd helped IE along as much as I could, I felt it was a good time to reassess where I ultimately want to go with my career, and I realized that I really needed to stretch my wings beyond Microsoft."

Wilson notes that he'll be taking on a position as Developer Advocate at Google. He also throws in this little quip: "I'm very excited to work for a company [Google] that invests so much in making the Web platform better for developers and consumers." Ouch! Do I detect some animosity toward Microsoft's browser development efforts? Let's hope Steve Ballmer didn't throw a chair at Wilson when learning about his departure. (Thanks to Neowin for the link.)